Controller.



No. 643,442. Patented Feb. 13, |900.

T. VON ZwElGBERGK.

CONTROLLER.

(Application filed Mar. 31, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets--Sheet i.

/vwe n fol.b

TH: uonms paens co. PHon-Lxwo., wAsHmnmN, n c.

N0. 643,442- Patented Feb. I3, |900. T. VDN ZWEIGBERGK.

coNTRoLLER. (Application filed Har. 81, 1899.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

Patented Feb. I3, |900.

T` VON ZWEIGBERGK.

CONTROLLER.

(Application filed Mar. 31, 1899.) (Nu Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

ovERN//v CONTROLLER. REVE/asma ,Sw/TCH f5 .1? :l u( n UIT ,SERIES BRALLEL i5 4 Elm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TiioRs'rEN voN zwEICBEEeK, or CLEVELAND, oi-no, AssiCNoR To THE wEsTINGHoUsE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, CE PITTS- BURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONTROLLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,442, dated February 13, 1900;

Application filed March 31| 1899. Serial No. 711,249. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern;

Beit known that I, THCEsTEN voN ZWEI@- BERGK, a subject of the King of Sweden and Norway, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin Gontrollers, of which the following is a full, Clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to controllers primarily adapted for railway-motors. One of its objects is to provide a simple and eiiicientemergency-brake. This is accomplished by giving the main controller a position where the motors shall be closed upon themselves, so that the simple reversing by the reversing-switch shall canse the motors to form an electric brake.

Other parts of the invention are concerned in a magnetic blow-out, in the Construction of the reversing-switch, in a magnetic lock preventing the operation of the reversing-switch under certain conditions, and in a simple form of cutting-out contact-finger.

The invention may thus be best summarized as consisting of the Combinations of the parts hereinafter described, and set out in the claims. l

In the drawings which clearly disclose my invention, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a controller with the usual covering removed. Fig. 2 is the said elevation, partly sectional, of the reversing-switch and its cooperating parts,the contact-iingersbeingomitted. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are horizontal sections on the lines 3 3, 4 4, and 5 5, respectively, in Fig. l. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the blow-out, being on the line 6 6 on Fig. l. Figs. 7 and S are respectively a plan, partly sectional, of the cut-outs and a perspective view of one of the cutout levers. Fig. 9 is a developmental diagram of the controller and its connections.A

Referring to the parts by letters, D represents a suitable frame which carries bearings d d', in which the shaft of the main or governing cylinder E is journaled. On this shaft are the contactsegments c to e, which are separated from the shaft by an insulatingsleeve cl and are divided into groups by the insulating-collars c2?. Thus the plates c to e are all electrically connected together. Likewise the plates el", c, and @12 and the plates e13 and 614 are electrically connected together and both connected to the ground. These plates engage with contact fingers, (designated K,) which receive the terminals from the resistance and reversing switch, as illustrated in the diagram.

The controller is of the series-parallel type, and its electrical operation for the series and parallel positions will be readily understood from the diagram, Where T represents the line from the trolley; q, the line to the blow-out Q; R' to R3, the line from the resistance; A', A2, F', and F2, the armatures and elds of the two motors; B, C, and O', lines to the reversing-switch; f' andf, lines from the iirst motor; L'L2, lines to the magnetic lock through the resistances R4 and R5, and G the ground.

The controller carries plates, (designated 612 and 614,) which at the ott position are engaged by contact-fingers connected so as to thereby close the motors upon themselves. Thus the line f', coming from the field of the first motor, is connected by the plate @12 with the line L', which leads through a magnetic lock to the line B to the other side of the armature of the first motor, and the liney2 from the ield of the second motor, being connected with the ground, the plate @-14 connects the line C from the other side of the armature of this motor with the ground from the magnetic lock. This closing of the motors upon themselves Whenever the governing-controller is turned off is normally inoperative-that is, no braking action is produced, since the momentum of the car revolves the motors in the same direction as their own current would revolve them. It, now, while the car is still moving by momentum or gravity the reversing-switch is thrown, Ithe motors become active generators, causing a current in the opposite direction, and this blocks the motors, tending to stop them. Thus a very simple emergency-brake is provided,as after the current is thrown off all that is necessary is to throw the reversing-switch. 'i

On the upper end of the main controllercylinder is a detent-wheel J, having peripheral notches, into which takes a roller carried by the arm j and drawn toward the detent-wheel by an adjustable springj'.

The reversing-switch includes a wooden body N, ot` the mutilated cylindrical shape shown, and contact-segments n to ne, secu red to the cylindrical surface theroot. The alternate segments n3 and h5 and the segments n4 and u8 are extended on the flat sides of the body and connected together byintegral vertical metallic strips a7 and n.7, set into those flat sides.

Secured to the lower end of the body N by Wood-screws is a socket-plate N', into Which projects a pivot-pin N2, carried by a bracket N3, extending from the wooden block N4, which carries the contact-fingers. At the npper end the wooden body extends into a socket Nq on the lower end of the sleeve N5, screws NG passing diagonally through the laterally-extending wall N10 of the socket into the wooden body. Near its upper end this sleeve N5 has formed integrally with it the notched detent-plate N7. With this plate engages a roller m, carriedl by a lever M and pressed toward the detent-pla'te by a spring m2. A shaft N8, on the upper end of which the reversing-lever takes, stands within the sleeve N5 and is rigid-ly secured to it. The construction just described reduces the cost of making the reversing-switch, and by having the reversing-switch body made of a solid piece of wood instead of around the shaft it is much reduced in size.

The reversing-switch engages with two sets of contact-fingers K and K2, either row of plates n' and An2 or n3 to n engaging with either set of fingers, one position thus connecting the motors ahead and the other reverse The electrical connections from these fingers will be apparent from the diagram.

From the connections shown in the diagram it will be seen that it either motor burns out it may be cut out simply by disconnecting at the reversing-switch the line B or C, which leads from the main controller for this motor, and operating the controller on the parallel position, the line being simply open on the series. This disconnection I cause by withdrawing either of the upper contact-lingers from the path of the switch. These fingers normally bear against the flattened surface of the bar k, lying in the groove 7c' in the projecting arm k2 of the bracket k3, which carries the contact-finger. The ends of this bar are secured to the forked arm 7a4, through the opening of which extends the contact-finger. The arm 7a4 normally stands about parallel with the bracket 7c3; but it may be turned forward into the position shown in full lines at the right in Fig. 7. In this movement the bar constitutes an eccentric and forces the contact-finger out of the path of the segment, the resilience of the finger keeping the bar and arm in place in either of their extreme positions. i

The method of braking which the present controller provides is that ot' an emergencybrake, (the motors being closed upon themselves,) it not being the intention to vary the braking force. It is desirable, however, in order to prevent too severe braking action that there shall be resistance in the brakecircuit. In order also to prevent subsequent movement of the reversing-switch after it has established the brake-circuit, which might severely burn the reversing-switch, I provide a'magnetic lock which comes into action as soon as the braking-current begins to flow and locks the reversing-switch until the stoppage ot the car discontinues the current. This magnetic lock consists of a magnet-core O, having the pole-piece o, (both preferably made integral with the back plate of the frame D,) the lines L and L2 wound independently around the core, and the armature-lever O', which the pole-piece is adapted to attract. This armature-lever has a tail o', which when the armature is attracted stands just behind the toe m' on the detect-lever M. Ordinarily this tail is out of the path of the detent-lever; but When the motors are closed upon themselves by t-he main controller being at the oli position the circuit leads through this lock, and when the motors are reversed and the brake-current builds up the magnet becomes energized and the tail o' is swung upward into the path of the lever M and the reversingswitch cannot be changed in position until the car has come to a stop and the current thus dies down. The brake resistances R4 and R5 are in the same branch lines with the lock and come into action only when the brake is applied.

In order that the spark at the main contacts of the main controller shall be rendered as harmless as possible, I provide a Very simple and efficient blow-ont and detlector. This consists of a vertical iron bar P, pivoted axially by means of the screws p and having projected from it the rigid iron plates p. Surrounding the bar P between the plates is a coil of wire Q, the coil winding in opposite direction between the successive plates. Thus when the current is flowing each pair of plates and the bar between them make a horseshoe-magnet, and lines of force pass across from the free poles and tend to blow out the arc formed by the segments separating from the contact-fingers. The plates P are inclosed in insulating-boxes S, having covers S', and the coils are protected by insulating-sleeves S2, against which the floors of the boxes S and the covers abut. These sleeves are flattened on their front sides, and the ends of the coils pass out to the front at the upper and lower ends of the sleeves and are connected across the edges of the boxes S, the connections being designated q in Fig. l and lying in a groove in the protecting wooden strip S3, secured to the sleeves.

At the upper and lower ends of the bar P it has secured to it the fiber plates S4, which furnish means for locking the whole blow- IOO IIO

out in active position, there being hooks or hasps U, which swing over the ends S5 of these fiber plates.

The cover S and the insulating-box S extend upward and downward at the front and outer sides in the form of shields S6. At its front this shield terminates in the block S7, made preferably of slate. 'This block has its face parallel with the tangent of the controller-segment at that point and is as near the segment as practicable, and thus as the segment retires from the contact-fingers the corner of this block extends .into the arc and prevents it traveling backward on the segment and confines it to the eXtreme end thereof.

Having described my invention, I claiml. A governing-controller adapted to govern a motor and having a position where the source `of supply is disconnected, means whereby such controller, when it comes into such position, directly closes upon itself a circuit in series through the armature and field of the motor, combined with a reversing-switch adapted to reverse the motor when the controller is at such position, substantially as described.

2. A governing-controller adapted to perform the two operations of governinga motor and of closing upon itself a circuit through its armature and eld in series when the source of supply is disconnected, and a single operatin g handle or lever adapted to move the controller for these two operations, combined with a reversing-switch adapted to be moved when the controller has the circuit thus closed through the motor and thereby apply an electric brake, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a series-wound motor, of a controller having a contact-plate Which, at a position of the controller where the source of supply is cut off, closes the motor as a whole upon itself, a reversingswitch, means for locking the reversingswitch when the current is on but allowing it to reverse the motor when said contactplate is in engagement, substantially as described.

t. The combination, with a pair of motors, of a reversing-switch and aseries-parallel controller which has contact segments which come into action at the usual off position of the controller and close the motors upon themselves, said closure being normally inoperative but allowing the brake to be applied by a reversal of the motors by the reversingswitch, substantially as described.

5. A governing-controller having an off position and a plurality of running positions on one side only thereof, means for preventing movement of the controller from the off posisition in the other direction, a contact-plate carried by the controller which is out of engagement at any running position but is in engagement at said off position, said contactplate when in engagement operating to close upon itself a series circuit through the armature and field of the motor, combined with such motor and a reversing-switch, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with a controller, a reversing-switch and a motor, of a line leading from a contact-finger at the controller to the reversing-switch, lines leading from the reversing-switch to the armature and field of the motor, aline leading from the motor to another contact-finger on the controller, and a contact-plate on the controller which comes into action at the olf position and connects together said two contact-lingers and thus closes the motor upon itself, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with a controller, a reversing-switch and a motor, of a line leading from a contact-linger at the controller to the reversing-switch, lines leading from the re versing-switch to the armature and field of the motor, a line leading from the motor back to the controller, a branch line leading from the first line mentioned to a contact-finger on the controller, a contact-plate on the controller which comes into action at the off position and connects together said two contact-fingers, and thus closes the motor upon itself, and a magnetic lock in said branch line adapted tolock the reversing-switch, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a motor, and means for closing it on itself and for reversing it, whereby a braking-current is generated, of a lock which automatically comes into action when said braking-current is iiowing, and prevents the subsequent reversal of the motor until the braking-current dies down, substantially as described.

9. The combination With a motor, and means for closing it on itself and a reversingswitch, of a magnetic lock in the circuit of the motor when it is thus closed upon itself, said lock being adapted to prevent the subsequent movement of the reversing-switch to open the circuit while sufficient braking-current is liowing, substantially as described.

l0. A motor, a switch for reversing it, a governing-controller, a branch line leading from one side of the motor to the controller and adapted to be connected at the controller with a line from the other side of the motor, thus closing it upon itself, in combination with a magnetic lock in said brauch line adapted to lock the reversing-switch, substantially as described.

11. The combination, with an electric switch having a notched detent-wheel, of a lever carrying a roller adapted to stand in the notches thereof, a magnet, a pivoted lever adapted to be moved by said magnet into the path of the detent-lever and thereby prevent the operation of the switch, substantially as described.

12. The combination, with a series-wound IOO IIO

motor and a resistance, of a controller which at the off position closes a series circuit through the resistance, the armature and the field of the motor, with a reversing-switch adapted to reverse the motor when the contrcller is inV such off position, substantially as described.

13. A motor having an armature and field connected in series, a switch for reversing said armature or lield,a governing-controller, a branch line leading from one side of the motor to the controller and adapted to be connected at the controller with the line from the other side of the motor, thus closing the motor as a whole upon itself, in combination with resistance in said branch line, sub-stantially as described.

14. The combination of a governing-controller adapted to close a motor upon itself, a reversing-switch adapted to reverse said motor, said reversing-switch having a detentplate, a detent-lever cooperating therewith, and preventing its movement unless the detent-lever is moved, a magnetic lock in circuit with the motor when it is closed upon itself, said lock operating to move a stop into the path of said datent-lever and prevent the operation of the reversing-s witch when a sufcient braking-current is flowing, substantially as described.

l5. The combination with a reversingswitch, a notched detent-plate carried thereby, a detent-lever having a roller engaging with said plate, a magnet-core O carried by the frame of the controller, a pole-piece o carried by said core, coils around the core, a pivoted armature-lever O, one end of which is adapted to be attracted by the pole-piece, the other end being thereby brought into the path of the detent-lever, substantially as described.

16. The combination with a series-parallel controller, a reversing-switch and a pair of motors, of a magnetic lock adapted to prevent the operation of the reversing-switch, said lock having twoindependent windings, which are a part of branch lines leading to the two motors, and means operated by the controller for connecting such branch lines with the other side of the motors, thus closing the two mctors upon themselves through the magnetic lock, substantially as described.

I7. In an electric switch, in combination, an insulating-body which is a mutilated cylinder having two cylindrical surfaces and two flattened surfaces, contact-segments secured to said cylindrical surfaces, one of said sets of segments extending alternately onto said two fiattened surfaces and longitudinal strips on the flattened surfaces connecting said alternate extended segments together, substantially as described.

18. An electric switch having an insulated body, an operating-shaft and a sleeve surrounding said shaft and extending over said body, and means for securing said sleeve to the body, substantially as described.

19. An electric switch having an insulated body, an operating-shaft N8 axially in line ,with the body, a sleeve surrounding said shaft and extending over said body, and screws securing said sleeve to the body, substantially as described.

20. An electric switch having a body coinposed of a solid block of wood, an operatingshaft axially in line with said body, a sleeve surrounding said shaft and having a socket in which said body extends, and means for securing said body in said socket, substantially as described.

2l. In an electric switch, in combination, a body of insulating material, contact-segments secured thereto, a sleeve N5 carrying on its end a socket which takes over said body, said socket having the laterally-extended wall N10, screws NG passing diagonally through said wall into said body, and means for turning said sleeve on its axis, substantially as described.

22. In a reversing-switch, in combination, an insulating-body N carrying contact-segments, a socket-plate N into which said body extends in the lower end and to which it is secured, a pivot-pin extending into said socketplate, a sleeve N5 above the body and carrying at its lower end a socket into which the upper end of the body extends, means for securing said socket to the body, and an operating-shaft extending into and secured to said sleeve, substantially as described.

23. In an electric switch, an operatingshaft, a switch-body in axial alinement wit-h the shaft, a sleeve surrounding said shaft and secured to it, said sleeve having at its lower end an integral socket into which the switch-body takes and at its upper end an integral detent-wheel, combined with a detentlever carrying a roller adapted to engage said detent-wheel, substantially as described.

24. The combination with a movable switch of a contact-finger adapted to stand in the path of said switch, an eccentric bar between said finger and a rigid member, and an arm secured to said bar and adapted to turn it axilially to force the finger away from the switch, substantially as described.

25. In an electric switch, in combination, a movable body carrying contact-plates, a contact-finger adapted to engage therewith, a rigid block on that side of the finger toward the body, said block having groove init facing said linger, a flattened bar occupying said groove, an arm secured to said bar and adapted to turn it on its axis and cause it to force the finger out of the path of the switch-body, substantially as described.

26. A cut-out finger for an electric switch consisting of a contact-finger, a rigid block 7a2 having a groove 7o therein facing the finger, a flattened bar 7i; occupying said groove, a forked arm 7a4 secured to the ends of said bar and having the contact finger extending through it, said contact -finger contacting with said iiattened bar and holding it and the forked arm in place, and said arm being adapt- IOO IIO

IZO

ed to be turned on its axis, to withdraw the iinger from its normal position, substantially as described.

27. The combination, with a set of contactngers, of a pivoted bar P, a series of plates p rigid with said bar and extending between the contact-fingers, coils around said bar between the plates, insulating-sleeves S2 surrounding said coils, insulating-boxes surrounding the edge of the plates and overing their upper and under sides and substantially contacting with said insulating-sleeves, substantially as described.

28. The combination, with a set of contactngers, of a pivoted bar P, a series of plates p rigid with said bar and extending between the contact-fingers, coils around said bar between the plates, insulating-sleeves S2 surrounding said coils, insulation surrounding the edges of the plates, said sleeves being fiattened on their front sides, a protecting-strip S3 secured to said iattened sides, the consecu tive coils being connected together between the insulation around the edge of the plates and the protecting-strip, substantially as described.

29. The combination, with a controller having a series of contact-segments, and contactngers adapted to engage therewith, of insulating-blocks S7 supported close to the contact-segments and near the contact-lingers, said block having its corner extending into the are caused by the separating contact plates and lingers and thus preventing the arc traveling back on the segment, substantially Witnesses ALBERT H. BATEs, PHILIP E. KNoWLToN. 

